Thursday, January 23, 2014

The Dancing Master by Julie Klassen

The Dancing Master is the newest release from novelist Julie Klassen. I was excited to read it as I've read and enjoyed her previous works. This book, however, was so dull that it never drew me in. I actually dreaded my time with it and never made it through the entire story. The characters seemed flat to me and I found the entire thing uninteresting. It also moved very slowly. I tried to give it my all, but was bored beyond belief and once I put it down I had nothing in me that wanted to pick it back up again. I put it down and forgot about it.From the back cover:Finding himself the man of the family, London dancing master Alec Valcourt moves his mother and sister to remote Devonshire, hoping to start over. But he is stunned to learn that the village matriarch has prohibited all dancing, for reasons buried deep in her past.Alec finds an unlikely ally in the matriarch's daughter. Though he's initially wary of Julia Midwinter's reckless flirtation, he comes to realize her bold exterior disguises a vulnerable soul--and hidden sorrows of her own.Julia is quickly attracted to the handsome dancing master-a man her mother would never approve of-but she cannot imagine why Mr Valcourt would leave London, or why he evades questions about his past. With Alec's help, can Julia uncover old secrets and restore life to her somber village...and to her mother's tattered heart?Filled with mystery and romance, The Dancing Master brings to life the intriguing profession of those who taught essential social graces for ladies and gentlemen to make a "good match" in Regency England.This book was provided for review by LitFuse.